


To Be Loved

by Korraso



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, The Little Mermaid AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4518627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korraso/pseuds/Korraso
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A oneshot Little Mermaid AU. Loosely based off of the original Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, not the Disney version!</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Loved

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of the first part posted on tumblr. There is also graphic/edit I made for the Little Mermaid AU on there as well. I kept out of as much of the graphic depictions as possible in this story!  
> Check for more notes at the end!

It is wrong to imagine nothing but sand and fish below the surface of the sea. For far below the surface leagues away from land, is life unlike any other. Flowers that glow in the dark sea water and plants so green and strong, they stand higher than any tree of the surface. Fish and other sorts of things, small and large, colorful and plain, swim trough the plants like birds in the sky. Among the green is the castle of the Sea King. It stands tall among the kingdom, made of multitudes of colorful coral so bright and vibrant it can be seen miles away; the top of its spires are adorned with white pearls the size of an elephant. Shells make the roof that open and close among the moving waters, with windows of pure amber that are clean enough to see through.

The Sea King never looked after his home, instead his Mother took care of it, for the King was a widower of many years. His wife and queen, was killed by a ship smashing into the rocks of a lagoon she was upon. So, the King lived alone with his three sons and two daughters. The eldest daughter was 16, Sansa, who was looked after by her grandmother, her father was too busy running a kingdom to look after her and her siblings each and every day. Sansa had fiery red hair adorned with a single large pearl and a pale blue tail that she decorated with pearls, shells and seaweed; she was beautiful. Her nature was sweet and gentle, but naive, she was still young and did not much of the world outside her father's home. She was only allowed to leave kingdom grounds with escort, usually her older brother, but was forbidden under any circumstances to go to the surface. Her older brother, Robb, was twenty and the only one to be able to leave the kingdom without supervision and could even go to the surface.

She would spend her days in the garden, tending to her circular plot in it that was filled with red and blue flowers that appeared like fire within the ocean water. Unlike her other siblings, she did not join Robb to explore shipwrecks. Arya, Bran, and Rickon, loved to go to shipwrecks to find any treasures among them to decorate their own rooms or garden. She never took anything for her garden but for one exception. She kept a white stone statue of a handsome boy in her garden and planted a tree that bore beautiful rose-like flowers next to it.

Nothing gave her more pleasure than to learn of the surface world, she pestered her grandmother for stories of it for hours on end. Grandmother knew of the ships that passed and the foreign lands up of the surface, of the flowers that have fragrances and the fish that sung such sweet songs among tree branches. Her grandmother had described birds as fish so her granddaughter would not be confused, Sansa never saw a bird in her life. She was jealous of her older brother who got to see the world above the water. He said it was an amazing sight, but warned that the people there were unkind and cruel; if they ever saw Sansa little boys would throw rocks at her and men would try to steal or kill her, women will look at her with disgust. Sansa always kept that at the back her mind, but it never diminished her wonder of the world above her.

One night, as she saw the sun begin to set through the amber glass, she left the castle alone and swam towards the surface. The light and sky was the most beautiful thing she ever saw. The sky was painted with crimson reds, pinks, blues, and purples. As the bright light set over the horizon and disappeared, night descended. She never saw such beauty, the sky was filled with small bright lights called stars and there was one in the distance that was larger and brighter than any other rising from where the sun had just disappeared, Sansa called it the night star. The sea surrounding her was calm, no waves stirred the black waters and the air was still, not a single breeze blew by her. Out in the water stood a still ship with three masts and the sails were furled. The sailors did not move about but rather relaxed or worked in the cabins within the ship. The deck was illuminated with hundreds of colored lanterns and the sound of music surrounded the air. The Little Mermaid looked through the cabin window and saw a few people inside. One was a prince with curly black hair and grey eyes. It was his 20th birthday and the entire ship celebrated it with fervor, the moment he step foot on the deck, rockets shot up through the air and exploded in colorful lights in the night sky making it as bright as day. The little mermaid was frighten by this and dove underneath the water, only to return to stare in amazement. It looked like stars were falling from sky, glowing multitudes of colors around here. The rockets illuminated the ship enough that she could see every person, the small details of their face, their clothing that each person wore upon the ship. She couldn’t stop staring at the Prince as the music swelled throughout the night. 

Sansa stayed despite the fact that she knew it was late in evening and all the light diminished upon the deck, still she stayed. The ocean  began to churn, the waves rose and fell, each growing in size as the previous one broke in front of it. The air began stirring wildly, the wind blew harshly, and a rumbling sound began to fill the air. The ships sails unfurled and the ship continued on its journey; but the waves kept growing higher knocking the ship hard, lighting began to appear, and the sky darkened. The ship sailed through waves the height of the tallest mast like a bird drifting their a pond, to Sansa it looked like a pleasent game, but not to the sailors. The ship began to creek and grain as planks started drift away in the waves that hit the deck. The middle mast, snapped in two as easily as a twig, the ship turned onto its side and water began rushing into it. Sansa realized now that the sailors were in danger, even she was in danger from the debris of the ship. It was dark, so dark that she could barely see her had in front of her face, a flash of lighting displayed the scene in front of her. She saw all from the deck earlier, except the prince, he fell deep below the waves into the water. For a second Sansa was glad, he could be with her, but she remembered what her Grandmother had told her, "humans cannot live below the sea like we do, they will die without air". She dived below knowing that if he stayed under for too long, he would be dead before he could reach the Sea King's kingdom. But he couldn't die, Sansa wouldn't allow it. She rose and fell with the waves and soon found the Prince, he was steadily losing his ability to swim in the storm. She swam to him, dodging the planks and beams that floated dangerously among the waves; when she reached him, she kept his head above water and let the waves drift them wherever they went.

By the first light of morning, the storm had ceased and Sansa and the Prince were safe, but the ship wreckage was no where near them. The sun rose red in the sky, the Prince breathed but did not open his eyes, Sansa stroked his wet hair and kissed his forehead. She willed him to live and kissed him again. He seemed so alike to the statue in her garden. She looked up and saw land surrounding them; she saw  blue mountains with white snowy tops, a green forest abundant with life of all sorts, and large stone building but she could not tell if it was a church or convent. Here, the sea formed a bay that still but deep, she carried the Prince up to the beach with soft white sand. She laid him there gently, letting the sun warm his cold body, then bells were heard and a group of girls came out onto the beach. Sansa swam away from the beach and into the deep water, she hid among tall rocks to await the fate of the prince.

A girl came forward and was in shock at the sight of the Prince, she quickly gathered people there and the Prince came to life. He smiled sweetly at the girl, but not Sansa. He did not know that Sansa was the one who had saved him. This caused her heart to sink with sadness. She dived down into the blue water to return to her father's kingdom with a heart filled with sadness.

* * *

Sansa was always quiet and elegantly reserved in nature, but now she was far more quiet then ever. She rose each day with the same sadness heavy upon her chest and each night she went back to where she left the Prince, gazing upon the beach. She saw changes each night upon the landscape, she saw flowers to fruit, snow upon the mountains melt, but never the Prince. And each night she left sorrowful. She still spent her days in her garden, leaning up against the white statue bu left her garden unattended, which turned it into a dark and gloomy place where the flowers grow over the paths and onto trees. Finally she could bear it no longer, she confided with her brother and then asked if he knew of where the Prince could possibly be. Robb, who hated seeing his younger sister like this, asked among his friends if they knew where the Prince could be.  One did, he showed her the Prince's castle and for days she would stay there, watching him from afar. 

She sought her grandmother for knowledge of the surface world, she knew all of the upper world, or as Sansa called it, the land above sea.

"Do humans die like us grandmother? Or do they live forever if they do not drown?" Sansa asked her.

"Yes, they die like we do, little one; but they have a shorter life than we do. Some of us can live until they are 300 years old, but when we die our bodies turn into foam in the sea unlike humans. Humans have souls, we do not. Their souls cannot die even longer after their bodies have turned to dust, a human soul will not die."

"Why do we not have a soul, grandmother?" Sansa asked sorrowfully, "I would give anything hundreds of years that I could ever possibly live, to be a human even for one day and have the hope of happiness after death in a world above stars. Is there anything I can do to win a soul?" 

"No, not on your own. You could only gain one if you are loved, truly loved, by a human."

* * *

Sansa swam far away from her father's kingdom to seek out the sorceress of the sea, the sand there was dark and gray. There lived half animal, half plant beings that grabbed onto any life that swam by and killed it. Sansa tried swimming far away from their grasps, but their appearance frightened her so that she almost turned back, but the thought of her prince and a soul kept her going forward.

She came across a bare patch of sand, there stood the sea witch. She said to Sansa, "I know what you want. It is very stupid of course, but I will give it to you. You want to have legs instead of a tail so that a Prince may love you and you may have a soul." The witch laughed loudly and scared all that was near, "I will help you, I will give a potion so that when you swim up onto the shore and drink it, your tail shall split into two and you will feel great pain and all who see you will call you the most beautiful thing they ever saw. You will still glide gracefully as you did before and no dancer shall ever be able to match such grace, but every move you take will cause nothing but pain. It will feel like knives are stabbing you with every step you take. If you bear this all I will help you."

"Yes, I will," Sansa said as she thought of the Prince and the chance at an immortal soul.

"But, be warned, if the Prince does not marry out of pure love, you will never have a human soul. And if he were to marry another, at the first light from sun the morning after his wedding, your heart shall break and you will turn to foam."

"I will do it," Sansa replied in a small voice.

"Yes," the sea witch said, "but I still need payment. And it is not a trifle that I ask of you; you have the sweetest voice of all who live in your father's kingdom. What I ask of you, is your voice."

"But if I have no voice, what will I be?" Sansa asked in a small, scared voice.

"Beauty beyond measure, my dear. Have you changed your mind already? Stick out your tongue so that I may take for my payment and you shall have my potion."

* * *

Sansa swam up to the shore of the Prince's castle and laid there upon the beach, she drank the bitter potion and felt nothing but unbearable pain and she soon saw nothing but blackness. When she woke, she saw her Prince there, holding her up right and asking for her name. Soon, she was walking with them at her side to his castle and then dressed in fine clothes. The witch was right, for every step she took, pain was all she felt but she still glided gracefully. Later, she stood among those in the court, performers were singing for him and his Aunt, the Queen. She thought mournfully that she could she sing better and please the Prince better than any one of them could. So, Sansa instead lifted her arms up and danced across the floor, her beautiful dance touched the hearts of the people far more than of the songs. The Prince's heart was touched especially.

The next few weeks, he insisted upon her being at his side. They spent days together, he showed her everything within the kingdom, she then learned that his name was Jon. She grew to love him more each day, he was kind to her and did not care that she did not spoke, even though this strained their relationship he did not care. He spoke kindly to her and even danced with her to make her happy; although her feet bled every time they danced, she did it to make him smile. His smile was what she loved best of all. She was even told the story of how he drowned in a shipwreck on his twentieth birthday and a girl saw him upon lying upon the beach unconscious, she had saved his life. It was then that Sansa learned that he did not know she was the one who truly saved him from drowning, which sadden her. 

He then confided his troubles with her one day after receiving news from his Aunt, Queen Daenerys. He never wanted to be a Prince and heir to a throne, his life was forever controlled because. He was told that he would never be able to marry for love, but only for political reasons alone. He looked up at her with warm eyes, "If I could marry anyone, I would choose to marry you instead." Then Sansa heard that the news from his Aunt was that he was to be married to a princess of the neighboring kingdom, to ensure a treaty between the two Nations. Sansa realized that although he hated his lot in life, he will not back away from it, and he shall go through with the marriage.

* * *

Prince Jon's wedding was beautiful, Sansa was brought along and had to witnessed it all, she mourned heavily inside but smiled for Jon. She knew that Jon hated this, she could see it in his eyes and knew what he thought. After the wedding ceremony, Jon and his new wife had begun sailing for Jon's home, there upon the ship was a grand celebration for the couple. There Sansa wanted to see Jon smile at her one last time, so she danced, she danced far more elegantly than ever before. Hot burning pain shot up her legs throughout the entire time and feet began to bleed so much that they left marks in their wake. But she didn't care, for she saw Jon smile at her sweetly and sadly, with love in his eyes. 

Sansa knew this was her last night and after the festivities died and all went to sleep, Sansa stayed up upon the deck of the ship gazing down below at the sea. She saw a figure emerge, her older brother, Robb was there. He had heard of Sansa's fate and came to see her, this brought tears to Sansa's eyes. Robb's hair did not wave in the wind, it was all cut off.

"I sold it," he said to Sansa, "All of us sold our hair, Arya, Bran and Rickon, we sold it to the sea witch for help. She gave me this" He then threw something up onto the deck, a dagger. "Stab the Prince's heart with that dagger before the sun rises, Sansa. His blood will spill onto your legs and turn it into a tail again, but be quick for in mere moments the sun will rise and you will die if you don't do this. You can come home and be with us Sansa and live hundreds of years with us. Please, come home." With that Robb returned back into the sea and left the dagger with Sansa upon the deck.

* * *

The sky started to brighten as Sansa opened the door to the Prince's room where Jon and his new wife slept. With the dagger in her hands, Sansa stepped closer to the Prince until she was close enough to see the rise and fall of his chest. She could not bring herself to go through with it, she did not feel resentment towards him, she felt nothing but love for him. Although this meant that she shall die and never be with her love nor her family ever again. She looked down upon his sleeping form and lovingly kissed his forehead for the last time. She wished nothing but happiness for the rest of his days, because she loved him so, she wanted him to be happy.

She ran out of his room and onto the deck, breathing heavily with tears stinging her eyes for the first time since she became human. Sansa threw the dagger into the ocean, the water around it turned into a dark red that resembled blood. She cast one final look to where Jon slept, unknowing that Sansa will be dead when he woke, and she flung herself into the sea with thoughts of her body turning into foam as the sun rose up into the sky, shining brightly.

Morning came and the sky was tainted a brilliant red as the sun came up and its first rays of light were cast upon the wedding ship.

* * *

Sansa felt light, like she was almost flying.  She did not feel like she was turning into foam, she looked around her saw and did not see the sea, but clouds and a woman with wings carrying her. Sansa felt like crying for she was far up above the sky, beyond the clouds and stars, for she got what she dreamed.

A soul gained from being truly loved by a human.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As I said this is loosely based off of the original Little Mermaid, so the ending isn't 100% accurate, and I did change various parts of the story as well; for instance in the original, the Prince didn't love her. The Little Mermaid is one of my stories that taught so many lessons and is by one of my favorite Authors, Hans Christian Anderson.  
> The story is really beautiful and I recommend that everyone reads it, even though it has a bittersweet ending.


End file.
